


The 3am Cat

by Ashes2Aces



Category: Carleton College - Fandom
Genre: Based on a True Story, Carleton College, Gen, Minnesota winter, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26274553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashes2Aces/pseuds/Ashes2Aces
Summary: Sometimes you want a black cat to cross your path.
Kudos: 2





	The 3am Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BentonLounge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BentonLounge/gifts).



> I use they/them pronouns for the cat and it for the human because the POV is limited omniscient and can see the cat's thoughts a bit. Also i thought it was funny. Plz don't use it for me unless you are narrating me from an animal or object's perspective bc they understand being called it and deserve to turn it around on us.

The night was silent, cold, and would have certainly been dark if it weren’t for the streetlights, as the thick white snow over everything and the low clouds reflected their light many times over to create a soft, pervading glow. The landscape was so still and well-lit as to be almost surreal, like a movie set or a painting that one has wandered into by accident. It was about three in the morning, a time that is much too early to consider waking up for, yet strains credibility as a proper bedtime. 

The only creatures visible moving across the frozen movie set of a street were a single student traversing its length and a black cat wandering across its breadth. Their paths almost crossed in front of the chapel, its sides tall and clearly visible despite the late hour. 

The student had had such a predictable path, it had been maintaining the same velocity for as long as it had been in view of the cat, but the cat had not accounted for the way their black fur contrasted with the bright white night because night is where black cats normally hide best. Their appearance altered the speed and height of the student, stopping it and making it less intimidating. 

The silence was broken by an inquisitive “niau?” and the black cat paused, considering. 

A reply, “row.” was issued. But the conversation did not end there.

Encouraged, the student persisted in querying the black cat. It held out its hand.

The cat, who did quite enjoy the company of humans and the many services they offered, decided to indulge themself and responded to the queries by approaching and inspecting the student. They deemed it good enough and were soon walking circles around the crouching student, rubbing themself against the corners and scritching apparatus of the human with contentment for long minutes. 

It was three in the morning, they both had things to do and places to be, but time did not exist in the same way in such a place at such an hour. Nothing was imminent. Sleep seemed far off in the glow of the artificial lighting. There was just low sky and cold snow and a silent road and a contented cat.


End file.
